


Tis the Damn Season (Already?)

by WishaDream



Series: Control Shorts [3]
Category: Control (Video Game)
Genre: Altered Item, Christmas Party, F/F, Fluff, Kissing, Mistletoe, Secret Santa, Spoilers for main game and dlc, also includes altered item report for your records/collection, and corporate nightmare from an SNL skit with kristen stewart, being forced to express ones secret desires, i don't write songs only tragedies, includes brief emily's side, polaris as wingwoman, songs include emily by bowling for soup, succulants means enduring and timeless love, ugly sweater contest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:28:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28920597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishaDream/pseuds/WishaDream
Summary: Jesse finds herself at the FBC Holiday office party. There are ugly sweaters, holiday games, and peppermint cocoa. There is also Emily Pope, who is approaching Jesse with something hidden behind her back. What could it be?
Relationships: Jesse Faden/Emily Pope
Series: Control Shorts [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119476
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Tis the Damn Season (Already?)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Corporate Nightmare skit](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/746904) by SNL. 



“Jesse!”

Jesse blinked, her vision clearing as colorful splashes of light came into focus, revealing themselves to be Christmas lights. These lights covered the offices of Central Executive along with other holiday decorations like cut out snowflakes and grape vine reindeer.

_Wow. The Holidays sure snuck up fast this year._

The place looked like Santa’s workshop. It even smelled like it as she caught the scent of peppermint on the air. Looking down she realized the smell was coming from a mug of hot cocoa in her hand. She took a sip before looking around again.

Everyone else was getting into the spirit as the office party looked to already be in full swing. In a corner she saw some workers cheering on a blindfolded coworker as they tried to put a red nose on a reindeer.

It was then she noticed everyone was wearing holiday sweaters under their HRAs.

_Did I miss a memo? I don’t even think I own a holiday sweater._

“Jesse!”

She turned as Arish came over. He was wearing a sweater that made him look like a fuzzy watermelon. She suspected the choice had something to do with Chelleh Night, an Iranian winter festival.

He wasn’t the only one. She noticed another worker was wearing a sweater with pomegranates on it. There were sweaters with Menorahs, Kinara, Advent Crowns, Diwali lamps, along with the typical holiday neutral sweaters with reindeer, polar bears, and other winter animals. There was even a narwhal that had a horn projecting from the front of the sweater.

_That has to be a safety hazard._

“Hey Arish, what is with all the…” She didn’t want to say “hideous” but several of them towed the line, “sweaters.”

His smile was bright as he told her, “They’re for the ugly sweater contest later. Isn’t that why you wore that?”

He pointed at her chest as she looked down to find she was also wearing a hideously loud sweater with flashing lights and more colors than a rainbow.

_Did I seriously put *this* on this morning and not remember?_

“But first the Secret Santas are going to give their gifts. You should probably go get yours.”

His words hit her like a bucket of cold water, “Secret Santa?”

Though she hadn’t recalled putting on the sweater, she for a fact knew she had not bought anyone a gift.

_Who even is my person?_

Arish had left her side, probably going to get his own gift. As she turned round and round, searching her surroundings for some answer to her predicament, she spotted Emily.

The girl was coming directly towards her, a bright smile on her face. Something about her smile seemed off and as she got closer Jesse realized she was hiding something behind her back.

_Oh God, is Emily my secret santa?_

That would explain the strangeness of her smile. She was probably nervous about having to be the one to give her boss a gift.

_Why did I let them include my name on the list?_

It seemed like unnecessary stress for people to have to come up with a gift for the boss. She would have to make sure they didn’t include her name in the future.

Emily was right in front of her then as she let out a nervous, “Hi.”

She returned the awkward smile with one of her own. “What’s—uh, what’s up?”

As she watched Emily brought around a box wrapped with brown packing paper folded into neat lines around a box. She couldn’t even see the tape it was wrapped so well.

“I got your name for Secret Santa. How lucky is that?” Emily bounced on the balls of her feet like she actually was excited at this outcome. “It’s so weird. Totally a coincidence. Not like I gamed the system.”

She let out a chuckle that made Jesse’s brows furrow with suspicion.

As she looked at the box she noticed Emily was also wearing an ugly sweater. Strange on its own, but even stranger was the particular sweater she had chosen to don.

At a glance the sweater looked like any other holiday sweater with brightly decorated presents, holiday wreathes, and Christmas lights twinkling on it. All of this surrounded a message written in the typical holiday lettering. But instead of the usual well wishes like “Have a Happy Holiday” or “Happy New Year” the words requested you “Kiss my Ass.”

“That certainly is an ugly sentiment.”

Emily was still smiling as she looked from her chest back at Jesse, “I know, it’s not the nicest sentiment, but I think it doubles the ugliness with the visual mess along with the words.”

Jesse had to agree, “I just wouldn’t expect *you* to participate in something like this.”

“Not typically. But since you sent out the memo about the contest I thought, as one of your heads, I should support you.”

“I sent out a memo?”

“Yeah. Didn’t you? Your name was on the e-mail.”

Jesse’s brow furrowed further.

_Did I send out an e-mail? Why can’t I remember?_

“I don’t recall. But I’ve been pretty all over the place lately. I can’t even remember the last thing I ate.”

Emily frowned, “That’s not good, Jesse. You need to eat.”

“I know. I’ll find time.”

The other woman looked like she didn’t like the answer, but didn’t press her as she instead moved the present closer to Jesse in order to remind her about its presence.

“Open it.”

She did, confusion lighting her eyes as she found the contents to be a pot with something like a plastic green flower inside. Was it a flower? Some kind of strange tree?

Seeing her confusion Emily explained, “It’s a succulent. A type of cactus. I thought you could keep it on your desk.”

Her smile was bright, making Jesse’s teeth ache with its sweetness.

“Thanks, Emily,” she smiled as she lifted the plant like she was giving cheers, “I’ll put it on my desk right now.”

“Don’t forget to grab your Secret Santa’s gift while you’re in there.”

She paused, looking back over the room of people, “Right. Uh, have you seen…?”

“I saw Arish over by the pin the nose on the reindeer game.”

_I’m Arish’s Secret Santa? Great. Why couldn’t it have been someone I don’t know that well so whatever I give them won’t be as big a disappointment?_

“Thanks, Emily.”

In her office, she set down the succulent before she started rummaging through all the things in her office in hopes of finding something she could give Arish.

“If it was Arish I had as Secret Santa why didn’t I pick anything up? Even something simple.”

Had she really been that busy with bureau work she’d completely forgotten? It had been a crazy time cleaning out the Hiss and getting the bureau back in order. But to completely forget a gift for her head of security…

_Why did I do this to myself?_

Her eyes skimmed her shelves which were filled with books and folders holding various reports. Inside one of the cabinets she found a trey of alcohol with glass tumblers. Though nice, it wouldn’t work. Arish didn’t drink.

The rest of the cabinets just held extra reams of papers, boxes of pens, and other office supplies.

_Office supplies. Really. Am I considering giving Arish a stapler?_

She dropped her head into her hands as she rested the whole thing on the smooth wood of her desk.

_At this point it might be best not to give him anything._

Arish would understand, “You have a lot on your plate.”

But that just made it all the worse.

Letting out a heavy sigh she got up, heading out of her office. Arish was still at the game of pin the nose as she touched his shoulder, getting his attention.

“Hey, can I--?”

He nodded as she motioned for him to follow her off to the side.

“I’m so sorry, Arish. I got you for Secret Santa, but I…” She shook her head, “I completely forgot.”

As Arish took in her words, she looked past him, noticing Emily watching them. She looked like she was sneering. It was a smirk that said “I knew you’d do that. You’re a terrible person who doesn’t care about your employee enough to buy them a gift.”

Though she was surprised that Emily would give her such a look, she knew she was right.

Jesse had failed Arish.

“I should have bought you something. If I was going to suggest the gift exchange, as leader, I should have made it a priority. If I act like something is important but then don’t treat it that way people are going to wonder why they should bother.”

Arish’s smile was understanding as he assured her, “It’s okay, ma’am. I know you’ve been really busy with Director duties.”

“I’ll make it up to you. Why don’t I give you a bonus, the equivalent of how much the gift would have been?”

His smile grew, “That would be great. I could use the extra cash after the holidays to pay for living expenses.”

As he walked away a thoughtful smile came to Jesse’s lips. She should have done that for everyone. With all the extra holiday expenses, everyone would probably have appreciated the extra cash instead of some Secret Santa gift that would probably just end up being junk they didn’t need. And instead of a holiday party, why not just give people extra time off they could use throughout the year?

As she considered how she could make things easier for her workers around the holidays she noticed Emily coming towards her.

“Can I talk to you in your office?”

Jesse nodded as she followed her back to the Director’s office. Once inside she turned back to find Emily closing the door behind her.

As she clicked the lock into place Jesse asked, “What are you doing?”

“I told you I wanted to talk to you.”

Emily started walking towards her, her wide smile looking creepy as she told Jesse, “I noticed you didn’t have a gift for Arish.”

“Yeah. I feel really bad about that.”

“I’m sure you do.” Her words sounded sarcastic like she didn’t actually believe Jesse was sorry at all.

“Is everything okay, Emily? You seem…stressed?”

Jesse felt her back hit against the shelf that lined the wall of the office as Emily edge in closer and closer.

“I feel fine, Director. The best I’ve ever felt. I feel free for the first time in forever.”

Her eyes lifted to the ceiling as she continued to smile in that wide way that Jesse usually found cute, but in that instance it made her skin prickle.

Emily’s head tilted to the side a she looked back at Jesse again, “Oh, look, mistletoe. I guess this is my deep seated desire.”

Jesse frowned in confusion as she followed her eyes. On the ceiling the green sprig had been taped.

“How did that get--?”

She startled as Emily slammed her hand against the shelf beside her head.

“Emily, what--?”

“It’s tradition. And the excuse she needs to do this.”

With that Emily grabbed Jesse’s collar as she pulled her down to her. Sparks ignited in her mind as their lips touched.

Polaris flared as well, a signal that warned of danger as she pushed Emily back.

“You’re not Emily.”

Not Emily sneered, that same cold look she’d seen her make across the room when Jesse had told Arish she did not have a gift for him.

_This for sure isn’t *my* Emily._

Not Emily chuckled darkly as her shoulders shook with the sound, “You’re right. She’d never act on her feelings. Even if she had the excuse. But I thought I’d have some fun for her sake before I have my own.”

At that Not Emily started to float as she extended her arms, “But now that I’ve done that, it’s time for me to rock out while you are stay stuck in here. I can’t have you trying to stop me, that wouldn’t be fun for anyone.”

She floated backwards, stopping just before the door, “Say Goodbye, Emily,” a dark chuckle made her shoulders shake again, “Sounds like the title of an Emo song.”

In a voice that seemed to echo, she started to sing, “She was always such a pretty girl, nobody like her in the world. A little piece of heavenly that no one else could stand. I see her in my dreams at night. I see you when I close my eyes. I just can’t seem to shake you, Emily.”

With that Not Emily flashed for a moment, disappearing from the room before reappearing on the other side of the door.

“Just stay here and be a good little director.”

Jesse ran over, finding the door to be firmly stuck even after she’d unlocked it from her side.

“What do you want? Maybe I can help you.”

“You can’t help me,” stated Not Emily, “you’re the Man. Part of the system. It’s because of people like you that people like me and Emily aren’t able to be our true selves. That we have to go through this daily rigmarole of everyday corporate life like hamsters in a wheel just working 9-5 to then go home and start the day over again the next day. And then they expect you to attend office parties because it “helps build morale.” If you want to build morale, don’t force people to work a nine to five job doing what they hate. Let them be free. Let them be themselves.”

Jesse pulled out her gun, firing at the door as she made a wide hole in the frame. Kicking the door she was able to break it open the rest of the way as she came out to find an even stranger view than people dressed in holiday sweaters.

There was a stage with a band set up on it. In front of it, everyone in the office had gathered in front of cheer on Emily. She was standing on the stage dressed in a leather jacket with her short hair spiked up at various angles.

“This song is for you,” called Not Emily as the sound system rang out with an earsplitting ring as the crowd in front of her cheered. They lifted their fists in the air, pounding them along with the beat as Not Emily started to play guitar.

“Take this job and shove it up your---I will never be a part of this machine. Corporate society. You can’t hold me back with a paycheck, this job can kiss my--.”

Emily pointed out past the crowd towards Jesse.

She felt her lips pull down in a frown.

_What even is this?_

“I will never go down the corporate road. Capitalistic nightmare!”

“Do you even realize what we do here?” called Jesse over the music, “We’re not a regular corporation. We’re a bureau, for one, and we investigate weird items like the one that is causing this,” she motioned to the room around them with its mix of holiday decorations and punk rock concert.

“You corporate drones in your suits and ties. The boss says “jump” And you say,” the crowd leapt into the air before singing along with the song, “HOW HIGH?!”

_Did they rehearse this? How do they know the lyrics to this song?_

As the music continued to blast, Jesse started to make her way through the crowd of people. They had formed a mosh pit that jostled her about, pushing her out before she could move a foot.

_Polaris, I really need your help on this one._

The bass was pounding as bodies jostled Jesse around. Leaping into the air she started to float over their heads, using their shoulders to keep her up as she made her way to the stage.

Not Emily was rocking out on a guitar solo, the lights from the stage making her hair look like it was on fire.

“Emily, or, whoever you are—I need you to let go and move on. I don’t know what your goal is, but I can’t have you messing with my people. It’s my job to keep them safe and I can’t have you controlling them.”

“But isn’t control what you’re all about, boss man?”

“First off, I’m clearly not a man. Second—what are you hoping to accomplish with all this?”

“I want to stick it to you. To show you that you don’t control me. That I’m my own person with my own thoughts and dreams and that I don’t need you.”

“Okay. Fair. But what about Emily? If that *is* Emily you’re possessing. What about her thoughts and dreams? Aren’t you being “the man” to her right now by forcing her to put on this show? Emily wouldn’t want to be disrupting the important work we do here.”

Not Emily played out a discordant note on the guitar, “It’s only important because you say so. Emily’s a good little girl who does everything her boss man says. But if she actually took the time to stop and think she’d realize she’s just another cog in the machine. A puppet that is easily replaced.”

Jesse felt her jaw tighten with anger as she landed on the stage.

“That’s not true. Everyone here is important to me. No one is replaceable because they are all special. And--,” her voice broke, “if I lost Emily, I don’t--.”

“You what?”

“I don’t know what I would do. She’s important to me.”

A derisive snort, “Because of the work she does.”

“No. It’s more than that. She’s my—she’s…”

“What? Spit it out already.”

“She’s my friend!”

Another snort from Not Emily.

“As if. You corporate types are all the same. You act like you’re friends with your employees, but when they actually need you you’re not there. You don’t listen.”

“I am here,” she pressed her hand to her chest as she drew closer to Not Emily, “And I’m listening. What can I do to help you? What do *you* need?”

“I need you to leave me alone. To let me be myself.”

“But you’re not yourself right now. You’re Emily. I need you to let her go. To let her be *herself.*”

Not Emily frowned, uncertainty in her eyes as her gaze drifted to the side as if she was looking for an answer.

“If you don’t want your precious subordinate to get hurt, if you want to cleanse me, you first have to act out *your* desire. Your desire as director is to cleanse me. But that’s not who needs to act. As a coworker you want to protect Emily. But as Jesse Faden, the girl who runs from everything, what is it she wants? What does she want to express now, here?”

_What does real Jesse look like? What does she want?_

Polaris flashed as she recalled something she had felt back in the director’s office with Emily, just before she’d realized it wasn’t her.

“What do you want, Jesse Faden?” repeated Not Emily as a sneer came over her face. It seemed she didn’t believe Jesse was courageous enough to show the world. But for the sake of the bureau and everyone there, for the sake of Emily, she wouldn’t back down.

Reaching out, she grabbed Not Emily’s wrist as she pulled her into her body. With that the two bodies collided as with her other hand Jesse reached up to pull Not Emily into a kiss.

Over the explosion in her chest she heard the discordant sound of a guitar hitting the ground. The sound soon faded into the periphery as she closed her eyes, losing herself in the feeling of the kiss. The feeling of Emily’s fingers lacing themselves through her hair. The feel of her hand on Emily’s waist, pulling her in closer like she was afraid the woman would float away if she didn’t.

“Emily,” the name came out as a breath, as an expression of longing and desire yet to be fully expressed.

There was a bright flash of light and she felt herself being pushed back from Emily. As she opened her eyes she saw Emily standing in front of her. The sweater was floating just in front of her. Reaching out, Jesse touched the sweater as she felt that familiar pulse as Polaris worked to cleanse the altered item.

Another flash of light burst forth and when she opened her eyes again she was standing in Emily’s office in the bureau. Emily was standing in front of her, her mouth open like she’d just called out to Jesse who found herself reaching out to Emily, her hand on her shoulder. Both turned from each other as a movement to the side caught their attention. It was the sweater, which had been floating in front of Emily before it flopped to the ground completely inert.

Emily stepped back from the clothing item as Jesse surged forward, picking up the sweater as she quickly secured it in a containment box.

Once it was put away she turned back to Emily, “Are you okay?”

She wanted to touch her shoulder again, to grab her, to pull her into a hug. But she was no longer in the world of the AI where one could express the desires of their heart with no repercussions. Here in the real world she had to remain at a distance, letting only a small amount of her worry show in the concerned way she looked at the other woman.

“I--,” Emily took in a shaky breath as she reached up to touch her forehead, “What happened?”

“We were pulled into an Altered Item. Does that happen often?”

“Occasionally. No. I’m not sure,” Emily looked dazed, like she was still coming out of the sweater’s world.

““How did you even come into contact with the sweater? It’s not even close to the holidays and I know you wouldn’t be so careless as to just throw a sweater on you randomly found lying around.”

“I uh, I heard Dr. Lake’s phone going off. I went to turn it off. He keeps it in the closet with his jacket, instead of his jacket I found the sweater hanging inside. I felt compelled to touch it. I tried not to, but I think as soon as I heard the song I was hypnotized. Next thing I knew I was wearing the sweater. I remember you entering the office and I called out your name. Then…”

“You don’t remember what happened when the Altered item pulled you in?”

Emily shook her head, “No. I don’t remember anything after that. But I assume you experienced something.”

Jesse frowned as she recalled everything, “There was a…it was a bit like the Hiss nightmare. I was at a Christmas party here. There were ugly sweaters and decorations. You were there, but it wasn’t you. I didn’t know that at first, that the sweater was possessing you. It used you to throw a really weird concert. I have no idea what it was all about.”

“Strange. I don’t remember any of that. But thank you, you saved my ass.”

“Of course.”

_Anytime. Everytime._

As Emily turned away, going into research mode as she got to work finding out the history of the sweater, Jesse felt a pressure on her lips. A sense memory of the kiss. Even greater than the confusion for the reason behind the sweater’s concert was her confusion over why kissing Emily had worked to separate the two.

But more pressing on her mind was the overwhelming question of _When can I find an excuse to do that again?_

____

(Emily’s side)

Emily was working in the research lab when she heard a voice like a whisper. Looking up from her computer she turned towards the sound. It seemed to be coming from the closet where Dr. Lake hung up his jacket.

_Did he forget to silence his phone again?_

Letting out tired groan she moved towards the sound. As she moved closer the ringtone’s words became clearer as she realized her name was among the lyrics.

“Emily, come with me. Emily, I can give you what you want. Everything. Emily, now’s your chance. don’t waste it. Emily.”

She was already opening the door as she found a sweater hanging in the place of Dr. Lake’s jacket.

The song was like a siren’s song as her mind went numb. Like she was watching from a distance she saw her hand reach out for the sweater. The words “Kiss my Ass” were emblazoned on the front along with various holiday decorations.

As the words to the song grew louder in her mind she felt herself put on the sweater as in her mind she screamed for herself to stop.

_This is super dangerous. You should never touch random items you find around the bureau and the last thing you should ever do is put them on. Please stop. Please. Don’t. Help. Someone help. Jesse!_

Just as she finished putting on the sweater she heard the door to the research lab open followed by a familiar voice saying, “Emily, I had a question about--.”

Jesse’s words cut off as her eyebrows lifted in surprise at Emily’s choice in attire, “What are you--?”

It seemed then to register in her mind that something was wrong as she charged towards Emily.

“Don’t you dare!”

Emily heard herself call out Jesse’s name just before the woman’s hand touched her shoulder. There was a bright flash of light then nothing. Nothing but silence and black and---peppermint?

As the lights around her twinkled to life Emily founder herself standing in the Central Executive offices. Everything was decorated like a holiday party as her coworkers milled about in ugly sweaters.

Emily felt her face break out in a smile as she heard her own voice say, “Finally. Time to get what I want.”

As her body started forward without her, Emily caught sight of Jesse out of the corner of her eye.

_Jesse, Jesse if you are in here with me help me. This isn’t me; I need you to save me. Jesse!_

As if sensing where the real Emily was looking, Sweater Emily turned her gaze towards Jesse. She felt her face take on a cold sneer, “Ah, the mighty Director. Arbiter of everyone’s destiny. When I’m done with her she’ll wish she’d never picked up that gun.”

_No. Stop. Leave Jesse alone._

A snort, “Why do you care? Without her here you can do whatever you want. Be whoever you want. Directors only get in the way of you doing your job. They don’t care about you actually getting your work done and they especially don’t care about you. So why should we care about them?

_Jesse’s not like that. She’s a good director. She cares about everyone. She puts their needs before her own. Even when it puts her life in danger, she is always the first to take on a job. She doesn’t want to put anyone else in danger. She feels like she has to take everything on her own, but that’s just because she’s failed in the past. But everyone makes mistakes. I’ve made mistakes. But it’s from learning and growing that we become better people. Better leaders. And that’s why she’s so good, because she’s decided to never again run from her problems, but to face them head on. ___

__She felt her eyebrow lift, “Head on, huh? Then let’s see what she does when I present her with this.”_ _

__Emily watched as her hand lifted. There was a flash of light as a brown box appeared in her hand._ _

__Her lips wore a harsh grin as she started forward, hiding the box behind her as she moved toward Jesse._ _

__Even as she called for herself to stop, to turn around, to leave, she kept moving forward._ _

__She switched gears as she tried to scream, to yell for Jesse to hear her, to notice that something was wrong._ _

__To notice that: _It’s not me Jesse. Please notice this isn’t me. Please see that this isn’t me right now__ _

__But nothing she did seemed to get out. And Jesse didn’t seem to notice that anything was off. Not when Emily presented her with a succulent, _okay, that *is* what I would have given her__ _

__Or when Jesse noticed Emily sneering at her from across the room when she admitted to Arish that she’d forgotten to get him a gift._ _

___See, Jesse admitted her mistakes, even when it’s not her fault. You were the one who set her up to fail.__ _

__She heard herself let out a dark chuckle._ _

__“All Directors are the same. They all let you down in the end. Don’t worry, we have all of the rest of eternity for me to show you.”_ _

__But then Jesse had noticed that Emily wasn’t herself. And she had saved Emily by--by kissing her!_ _

___For research reasons?__ _

__She couldn’t figure out that part. But maybe it had something to do with the holiday theme of the altered mind state. The sweater had made Emily kiss Jesse underneath mistletoe and then Jesse had kissed her on stage._ _

__She didn’t put any of that into the report on the sweater and Jesse didn’t bring it up when related everything she recalled from the event._ _

__Emily didn’t know why she lied and said she didn’t remember any of it. Maybe it was because of how helpless she’d felt while watching herself move without having any control over anything. Maybe it ws because she was embarrassed about the kisses and didn’t want to make Jesse feel worse by knowing they both remembered the event._ _

__All she knew for sure was that she had yet another reason to be grateful to Jesse Faden. The best kisser._ _

__Director._ _

__Jesse Faden, the best Director._ _

__Emily groaned as she backspaced over the words in her report._ _

__Best just to start completely over._ _

__“Sweater Procedure for “Kiss my Ass” Ugly Sweater. Altered Item number 82 section UE…”_ _

_______ _

__

__Bonus_ _

__

__Sweater Procedure_ _

__**“Kiss My Ass” Ugly Sweater (AI82-UE)** _ _

__ Containment Procedure _ _

__The item should be kept in a sealed chamber made to keep sound from escaping._ _

__ Description/Altered effect: _ _

__A colorful sweater with words “Kiss my Ass” written on the front in cheery lettering with flashing Christmas lights. The item plays a song which entrances those who hear it, causing them to put on the item._ _

__The sweater causes the wearer to see themselves in a Christmas office party scenario where they act out the actions of a disgruntled office worker. Not much is known about the full extent of the sweater’s abilities as Director Faden was able to cleanse the item before it was able to complete its full ritual.__

 _ _She claims the item required one to act out their deepest desires before the sweater would let her cleanse it. The sweaters own desires were also required to be fulfilled before the wearer could be freed._ _

__  
__

__  
_ _

__Sweater Supplement_ _

__**“Kiss My Ass” Ugly Sweater (AI82-UE)** _ _

__ Background _ _

__[REDACTED] was an accountant for an accounting firm. In his youth he’d dreamed of being a punk rocker, but it never went anywhere and eventually his parents convinced him to pursue a “realistic career.”__

_Mr. [REDACTED] felt put down by his company and filled his drafts folder with complaints about his job and Director. The e-mails were never sent. (See AI-82 case file for copies of the e-mails)._

_Many of the e-mails highlight his discontent with the office parties which he felt were a “waste of company funds” and how he’d “rather get a bonus check and time off to spend doing what I actually want.”_

_For an office party one year he purchased the “Kiss my Ass” sweater, but never wore it._

__ Supplementary Materials _ _

__It is believed that [REDACTED] resentment grew, due in part with his inability to express his desires. The sweater thus creates in the wearer a compulsion to voice their deepest desires as well as acting out the desires of the previous owner to tell off one’s boss before throwing a concert at the Christmas party._ _

__Director Faden attests to the Sweater requiring one to act out their desires in order to obtain some type of Freedom. Further research would need to be done to fully understand the extent of the AI’s abilities and desires._ _


End file.
